Oversight and Investigations

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Mike Howell

Director, Oversight Project, The Heritage Foundation

Mike joined The Heritage Foundation in October 2018 from the Department of Homeland Security, Office of the General Counsel, where he was the Chief Legal Point of Contact for the department’s 3,000-lawyer office for all congressional oversight and investigations. Prior to joining the Trump administration, he was on Capitol Hill for five years as an attorney for both the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the House Oversight Committee. During this time, he worked under Senator Ron Johnson, Chairman of House Oversight Jason Chaffetz, and Subcommittee for National Security Chairman Ron DeSantis.

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Tom Jones

Founder & President, American Accountability Foundation

While on Capitol Hill he served as the Legislative Director for Senator Ron Johnson, ran the opposition research program for Cruz for President, and previously as a Senior Policy Advisor to Senator Jim DeMint. During his time with Senator DeMint, he was part of the oversight team that helped Senator DeMint and his colleagues successfully ban Congressional earmarks. As a subcommittee staff director, he conducted on-going agency oversight and regularly investigated waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. His research was crucial in helping Senators defeat flawed presidential nominees and kill wasteful government programs.

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Michael Ding

America First Legal

[At America First Legal], We believe that all Americans deserve a government that puts their needs, their interests, and their country FIRST. This is the sacred obligation of every elected leader. This is the system our Founding Fathers established. This is the priceless heritage of every American citizen.

Yet America First principles are now under attack like never before. Our security, our liberty, our sovereignty, and our most fundamental rights and values are being systematically dismantled by an unholy alliance of corrupt special interests, big tech titans, the fake news media, and liberal Washington politicians.

Areas of Oversight and Investigation

  1. Congressional Oversight
    1. Leveraging Congressional Oversight to further the president’s agenda
      1. Identify a supportive Member of Congress who can give you the opportunity to better control the narrative (rephrase answers as necessary and provide better context)
  2. Inspectors General Community & Government Accountability Office (GAO)
    1. Inspectors General
      1. Permanent staff within the agency who are responsible for rooting out fraud and abuse within agency operations
    2. GAO
      1. Organ of the United States Congress that provides fact-based, non-partisan information that can be used to improve government and identify waste of taxpayer dollars. 
  3. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
    1. A federal statute that lets anyone request records from the federal government.

Common pitfalls and mistakes to avoid

  • Do your best to go in with a clean slate
  • Clean up your social media

All the agencies under the federal government are governed by certain records retention policies - be sure to follow the policies at your agency.

The casual nature that we use in daily communications is not appropriate for communications within the federal government.

Opposition research is about storytelling; it’s gathering facts and presenting them in a way to tell a story.

Vulnerability Assessment

  1. Treat your principal like the target
  2. Approach their vulnerabilities from the site of the opposition.

Keep in Mind How Your Actions and Decisions will Play Out in the Media